Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Good Work

"And the real name of
our connection to this everywhere different and differently named earth is
“work.” We are connected by work even to the places where we don’t work, for all
places are connected; it is clear by now that we cannot exempt one place from
our ruin of another. The name of our proper connection to the earth is “good
work,” for good work involves much giving of honor. It honors the source of its
materials; it honors the place where it is done; it honors the art by which it
is done; it honors the thing that it makes and the user of the made thing. Good
work is always modestly scaled, for it cannot ignore either the nature of
individual places or the differences between places, and it always involves a
sort of religious humility, for not everything is known. Good work can be
defined only in particularity, for it must be defined a little differently for
every one of the places and every one of the workers on the earth.
The name of our present society’s connection to the
earth is “bad work” – work that is only generally and crudely defined, that
enacts a dependence that is ill understood, that enacts no affection and gives
no honor. Every one of us is to some extent guilty of this bad work. This guilt
does not mean that we must indulge in a lot of breast-beating and confession; it
means only that there is much good work to be done by every one of us and that
we must begin to do it.”- Wendell Berry

"Good work is dignified. It develops your faculties and serves your community.
It is a central human activity. Work, in this view:
makes you honest with yourself,
requires that you develop your faculties and skills,
empowers you to do what you are really good at and love to do,
connects you in a compassionate way with the outside world,
supports the philosophy of non-destructiveness and sustainability,
and integrates work with personal life and community."